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Heather Lerner
Ph.D. student
Bachelor's degree, Biology, Bryn Mawr College, 1999
U-M affiliation(s)
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology
Museum of Zoology
Contact information
University of Michigan
89 Museums Building
1109 Geddes Avenue
Ann Arbor, MI 48109-1079
Phone: (734) 763-0310
Fax: (734) 763-4080
Email: hlerner@umich.edu
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Fields of study
Avian systematics and population genetics
Research interests
I am interested in conservation genetics, avian systematics and ancient DNA. My current research involves phylogenetics of birds of prey in the avian family Accipitridae (such as hawks, eagles, Old World vultures, kites, goshawks and sparrowhawks) using nuclear and mitochondrial molecular markers. Other current research involves population genetics or phylogeography of the harpy eagle (Harpia harpyja), a neotropical rain forest predator of mammals such as monkeys and sloths, and the Philippine eagle (Pithecophaga jefferyi), a species which occupies a similar niche in Philippine rain forests.
Questions of particular interest to me involve identifying genetic factors that contribute to species declines, genetic markers appropriate for population-level studies and modeling genetic and demographic data to project population trends for species at risk of extinction.
Academic background
Heather received her undergraduate degree in Biology from Bryn Mawr College in 1999. She also minored in Environmental Science. She worked for two years as a wildlife biologist for an environmental consulting firm in the San Francisco Bay Area before beginning the PhD program at the University of Michigan Ann Arbor in 2001. She received her masters in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology in May 2003 from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.
Advisor
David Mindell
Home page
Recent publications
Bunce, M., Szulkin, M., Lerner, H.R.L., Barnes, I., Shapir, B., Cooper, A.and Holdaway, R.N. 2005. The evolutionary history of New Zealand's extinct giant eagle revealed by ancient DNA. PLoS Biol 3(1):e9.
Lerner, H.R.L. and Mindell, D. P. (2005) Phylogeny of eagles, Old World vultures and other Accipitridae based on nuclear and mitochondrial DNA. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution , in press.
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